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Sugarbush/house operation for lease, 2018 season
Turn key 13,000+ tap sugarbush with sugarhouse for lease during the upcoming 2018 sugaring season. Business is located in the NEK of Vermont, along the NH and Canadian border. Previous productions have been in the 6,000 - 6,400 gallon range. All equipment is onsite, in a slightly remote area (approximately one mile from main road). Access by snowmobile or ATV with tracks until snow has melted.

Looking to lease the operation for the 2018 season with the potential to lease additional seasons.
Individual must have experience operating a Lapierre RO and at least 3-5 years of sugaring experience.
Fall maintenance will be needed. Consistent boiling usually begins early April and typically ends first week of May.
Only serious candidates should inquire via private message.

We got 1000 tapped on Wednesday and Thursday. Should be able to tap again on Tuesday of next week. We got a foot of snow last night so it will be a little slower working in the woods. I would like to be all tapped by the middle of the month.

Have approximately 3,000 of our 15,000 taps in. Added 2,000 new taps this fall at our Jericho woods. We installed the droplines with spouts already attached (significant pain in the a** and would not recommend, I believe it results in more total labor even when considering the saved time with not having to attach spout when tapping) but that did make it pretty fast to tap those 2,000. I tore my meniscus tuesday night but will be able to start tapping again tomorrow afternoon, the knee is feeling better. Have a friend helping this year as well as my uncle who volunteers for us and my dad who taps on weekends. I had hoped to get all tapped in by the end of my winter break (January 16) before I go back to UVM but that may not be feasible. Was hoping that we could get all tapped in before getting a sap flow but we are forecast to be 42 degrees here on Thursday. Maybe it won't run with it having been so cold. We didn't get hit bad by the windstorm in our Jericho woods but spent approximately 150 hours to do cutting and repairs in our Westford woods to deal with wind damage there.
P.S. I saw a barred owl on my first day of tapping on December 29th and take that as a good luck sign for the season.Good luck to you Spud and all other sugarmakers.

Thanks. I hope spotting the owl helps the season. I spotted one a while back so maybe I will have some good luck also. We stopped putting our spouts on our drops in advance. At first I thought it was going to speed things up but after doing the math I found it did not pay. I tap 100 per hour even though I have to cut last years spout off. That seems good enough for me. I'm only good for 4-5 hours per day because of my low back issues. I'm going in for another round of steroid injections on Jan 22. I don't think I will get any sap this week even though we have two rainy days in the 40s. I am tapping the back side of my woods now because it gets a ton of snow. I'm trying to get that section done ASAP. I should get to the S/E side by the end of the week if all goes well. Still hoping for that week of 40 degree days by the end of the month.

Well fellas I have to say, I am totally surprised that this tread is almost to the day 4years old and still going. Thanks for all the great info here. I look forward to everyone's 2 cents every time I click on here. May you all have the best season ever and record breaking sap flows this year.
Good luck
PM

Yesterday was brutal in the woods for me. The snow is very deep now but I hope this two day warm spell takes care of that problem. Although the sap may run a little on Thursday and Friday i am just not ready to turn the pump on yet. I hope to be done tapping next week sometime.

IN addition to holiday markets and our usual holiday shipping rush, I have been working on an addition to the sugar house for tank storage. I am hoping to finish setting the tanks and most of the plumbing during this warm spell the next couple days. I'll finally have enough storage and a much simpler valve configuration in my heated room so I can control everything from there. I also won't have to worry about coming home or waking up to overflowing tanks...

No major changes in the woods this year. Just trying to make as much syrup as I can from what I've got. Will be using CV2s or a new drop and smart spout again this season. May start tapping next week but hoping to be ready to make syrup by Feb. 1st. Putting in a new membrane to replace the 10+ year old original that is in the ro. That should be real nice...

I'm looking forward to hearing of others' progress as the season progresses!

I'm still plugging away at the tapping. The sap was running yesterday and will run all day today. My vacuum is not on at this time. I still have a few fixes to do with mainlines. Sap was testing at just 1.3%. I will be ready for the next run in a few weeks. Supposed to be in the 40s in about 10 days. The season could be all done in March or it could go till April 20th. I just want to be ready. This rain is melting the snow so now I can drive my 4-wheeler in the woods again. That should speed up the tapping a bunch.